A Focus on Priority & Process

Introduction

Matthew 9:14–15 TLV

Then John’s disciples came to Him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?” And Yeshua said to them, “The guests of the bridegroom cannot mourn while the bridegroom is with them, can they? But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.

Matthew 9:16–17 TLV

“And no one puts a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch pulls away from the garment and a worse tear happens. Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise the skins burst, and the wine spills out and the skins are ruined. But they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.”

Put your hand up if you have always wondered what this passage means?

I wanted to take some time and look at Yeshua’s halachah. Do you ever have a deep desire to know Yeshua’s ways more? To become more familiar with his style and approach to life? I do. I find myself wanting to know and understand his ways, to be able to sift through the many voices out there, grab ahold of his wisdom and to never let go. He is our master and we are his disciples. In fact, this passage has much to tell us about his disciples.

Some of you may have a Bible version that breaks out sections of the Gospels into headings that help to organize the stories. For example of our passage in question;

ESV says “A Question About Fasting”

TLV says “Teaching New Ways”

NET Bible says “The Superiority of the New”

My Title says “A Focus on Priority & Process”

As helpful as the headings can be, sometimes they cloud the story or passage that they seek to describe. As I was reading this passage I can see this is a case of just that. You might see from my title that I think the passage is not about chiefly about fasting or something new, but about prioritization. Specifically, Yeshua teaching us that prioritization is important and that his disciples should understand and implement it in their lives. This is part of Yeshua’s halachah.

We all prioritize in life. I priortize my email inbox at work. I use the flags to determine which items should be dealt with first. My wife prioritises her teaching time with the kids - the little kids get all the attention and the older kids have to fend for themselves (inside voice!). I am now learning to prioritize my sleep and exercise over other daily ‘to do’ items (we’ll see how long it lasts…this time).

The point is priotization is important and we must engage in it in order to be effective people, and certainly effective disciples of Yeshua. But what should we prioritize?

Three Schools

If you look at this passage you might notice three schools:

Three Schools of Disciples

John’s Disciples

The Pharisees

Yeshua’s Disciples

We’ll be holding an immersion soon and we spoke about immersing “in the name of,” which is really a first century hebraic way of saying immersing in the authority of your teacher. There is a student disciple relationship at play in the Gospels and we are transproted into that world when we refer to ourselves as ‘disciples of Yeshua’. People were immersed into John, presumably others were immersed into their rabbis, but we of course are immersed into the discipleship school of Yeshua our master. Here’s an example where this school concept or ‘teacher to disciple’ picture comes out clearly:

Luke 11:1 TLV

Now Yeshua was praying in a certain place. When He finished, one of His disciples said to Him, “Master, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

So, there are three schools here in this context. Two of the schools fast, but Yeshua’s school doesn’t.

Yeshua’s School

Context Re The Questions on Fasting:

Matt 9.15 Mark 2.18, Luke 5.33

Comes after story of Matthew’s calling “follow me” and banquet.

Yeshua reclines and eats with tax collectors and sinners.

Our passage in Matthew is in all three synoptic gospel accounts and Matthew, Mark and Luke each place this story immediately after Yeshua sees a tax collector in his booth named Matthew (or Levi), and he says to him “follow me”. Can you imagine if you were at work and a man rolls up and says ‘follow me’? You’d probably call security. But in this context it is not weird because clealry Yeshua presented as a religious teacher that seeks disciples.

As most of you know, tax collectors were looked down upon becuase they worked for the roman government and they also typically cheated people out of taxes. Yeshua is invited to a banquet at Levi’s house, he reclines, and enjoys his time with other tax collectors and sinners that were looking to turn their lives to God.

Yeshua was accused of eating and drinking with sinners and then we recall he says ‘those who are healthy have no need for a physician’. Matthew was once one of those sinners and he became a disciple of Yeshua. So we can see that Yeshua’s school was made up of people that were considered non discipleship material by some of the religious groups.

We can imagine Yeshua’s disciples included those we see Yeshua ministering to - sinners - tax collectors- prostitutes - beggars - lepers. But why would it be seen as wrong to eat with tax collectors and sinners?

It is important to once again take off the biased glasses of the past and understand the Jewish culture and context. Many commentators assume the issue the Pharisees think that these people are simply bad and so pharisees don’t want to eat with them. But it is not that simple. In rabbinic literature tax collectors and other sinners like this were called Am Ha’aretz (people of the land) and it had a specific meaning. Here is a glossary definition from early rabbinic literature called the Tosefta:

Am Ha’aretz. Ordinary person, paganus. Specifically, one who does not observe the laws of tithing and who does not eat ordinary food, that is, food which is not consecrated as one of the priestly gifts, in a state of cleanness such as is required for the eating of consecrated food. An Israelite who is not trusted properly to tithe his produce or to observe the rules of Levitical cleanness. The opposite of a ḥaber.

In other words these people are sinners and the reason for the separation, in particular eating with them, is because you don’t know if they have properly tithed the produce nor do you know if they have cleansed themselves when eating food that should only be eaten if one is ritually immersed (Dt 14.22-23).

The rabbinic literature deals heavily with this issue. In fact, it is such an important issue that there is an entire tractate called Demai dedicated to how to handle situations invovling doubtfully tithed produce.

Here is one such comment from the Mishnah:

One who accepts upon himself to be trustworthy (ne’eman), must tithe whatever he eats and whatever he sells and whatever he buys, and he may not be the guest of an am haaretz. Rabbi Judah says: even one who is the guest of an am haaretz can still be considered trustworthy. They said to him: He is not trustworthy in respect of himself! How can he be considered trustworthy in respect of others? Demai 2.2

Yeshua of course rejects the consensus that one should not eat with the am ha’artez. Yeshua’s halachah is one where he is willing to come alongside anyone seeking to repent and “follow him”.

Prioritize The Bridegroom

It was at, during, or shortly after the banquet that Yeshua is asked about fasting. Yeshua’s responses to the question as to why his disciples don’t fast are illustrations drawn from everyday life to make his point.

The first illustration he uses is one where a bridegroom is surrounded by the wedding guests and the point he makes is that the friends of the bridegroom at a wedding celebration should be joyous and festive. Can you imagine your guests fasting and moping at your wedding?

We often say that Yeshua answers like a good rabbi by answering with a question. And we do that to make the important point that Yeshua is in a first century Jewish context. It is important to make that point with our brothers and sisters in the Church and many are coming to realise this. At the same time, we dare not reduce the words of the messiah, the son of the living God, to mere words of any other rabbi. His words are life. He is the word made flesh.

In this illustration it is clear that Yeshua is the bridegroom and the disciples are the wedding guests. The disciples have precious little time with the living word of God in their midst; Yeshua is the imprint of the Father as the author of Hebrews puts it. Yeshua will be leaving soon and that is when scarcity will exist. In other words, now is not the right time for my disciples to fast because it is more important for them to enjoy my presence.

You see, the real question here should be “Why are the dsicples of John and the Pharisees not eager to be counted dsiciples of the one sent by the Father?” The irony is that the ones fasting for God are doing so presumably to be aligned with God, and yet they are neglecting the very bread from heaven sent by God to feed them! They should be at the feet of Yeshua eating their fill.

And, if anyone should know better it should be the disciples of John. Here is what their teacher John speficially told them:

John 3:25–28 TLV

Now an argument came up between John’s disciples and a Judean concerning purification. They came to John and said, “Rabbi, the One who was with you beyond the Jordan, the One you testified about—look, He is immersing, and all are coming to Him!” John answered, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven. You yourselves testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah,’ but rather, ‘I am sent before Him.’

John 3:29–30 TLV

The one who has the bride is the bridegroom, but the best man rejoices when he stands and hears the bridegroom’s voice. So now my joy is complete! He must increase, while I must decrease.”

Here we have John the immerser telling his disciples to be on the look out for the true bridegroom! In linking this teaching about the bridegroom and applying it to himself, I think Yeshua is direclty rebuking the disciples of John for not believing what their own teacher said.

And this is what prioritization is all about. You see, fasting is a good thing. Yeshua isn’t criticizing fasting, he is saying - my disciples have correctly prioritized their life and this is what is needed for them at this current time. They need to rejoice that I am here, they need to learn from my teaching.

The lesson is the similar for us. Don’t get so caught up in the way things should be done that you miss what God is doing! “Hey - they should be fasting but they are not, why?” Your priorities are misaligned. Think of your life and activities and your to do list, how is it prioritized? Where is Yeshua on that priority list?

God gives us seasons to remind us that life is not static. There are times when you salt your steps and there are times when you cut back the weeds. What sense does it make to salt your steps in the summer while the weeds are growing tall? Allow God to work in your life and be flexible with God to reprioritize your time and attention. These are the lessons we can draw from.

Unshrunk Cloth

A quick seach of the meaning of this parable in commentaries and online will yeild a fairly consisten interpretation - Yeshua was doing away with the old covenant, he was bringing in the New Covenant and so needed to start from scratch, or Yeshua fulfilled the law so there was no need for old rituals, and the list goes on.

Here is how one commentator puts it:

The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Volume 8: Matthew, Mark, Luke 7. Fasting and the Dawning of the Messianic Joy (9:14–17)

These illustrations show that the new situation introduced by Jesus could not simply be patched onto old Judaism or poured into the old wineskins of Judaism.

Interpreters are so used to reading with biased glasses that it’s difficult to read the text for what it actually says. We are all guilty of this, but here is another case where a messianic Jewish perspective helps to break those glasses.

Let’s look at vs 16 and compare it to Luke’s version.

“And no one puts a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch pulls away from the garment and a worse tear happens. Matthew 9:16 (TLV)

Now he was also telling them a parable. “No one tears a patch from a new garment to use it on an old garment. Otherwise he will rip the new, and the patch from the new will not match the old. Luke 5:36 (TLV)

What do you notice? We can see that the parables do not match 100%. Why might that be? We aren’t sure, it could be two different but similar parables that make the same point or the parable was longer with more words and only certain perspectives were captured by the authors. Whatever the case, the fact that we have differences here is a benefit because it allows us to narrow the consistent conclusions between them.

So, to break down the parable, on the one hand we have a new garment or patch and on the other we have an old garment. In my view, where commentators go wrong here is that they almost always assume that the old is bad! But it is entirely the opposite conclusion that should be drawn! The text doesn’t say ‘grab the new garment and throw out that old dirty thing’, the text implies preservation of the old garment because it has trumendous value.

If you don’t use the correct patch a wrose tear happens in that precious old garment that fits so good you must do whatever you can to keep it going. If you use a new patch it just won’t match that jacket. Have any of you owned an old leather jacket that fit just right? If you talk to people who have, that jacket doesn’t fit like it did out of the box, there is a breaking-in process that has taken place to make it fit perfectly. Here is the first search result on Google on the topic:

Wearing your leather jacket in light rain and / or weather that's a bit on the warmer side does help to speed up the breaking-in process, but above all, it's the amount of time the jacket spends moving around with your body that determines how quickly it will break in and develop its own unique patina.

The Master’s point is that there is a process to achieving that perfect old garment. It takes the friction and accustomizing and acclimatizing to get that old jacket feel and fit. There is no way around it it just takes time and to rush it only ruins everything.

New Wine

It’s the same basic point for the wine. Here’s how Luke puts it:

Luke 5:37–39 TLV

And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins, it will be spilled out, and the skins will be destroyed. But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. No man who drinks old wine wants new, because he says, ‘The old is fine.’ ”

There is a process to making good wine. In fact, the right wine properly aged gets better. The TLV translates that last greek word χρηστός, chrēstos as ‘fine’ and other translations may say ‘good’. But the word in relation to wine in this context should be better rendered pleasant-tasting. This of course makes perfect sense if you are reading with glasses that don’t automatically assume the ‘old’ is that bad old Judaism.

The point is clear, if you put new wine into already stretched skins, then over time everything will be ruined. But in order to get that aged pleasant tasting wine, you must follow the right process.

How many of you have done a wine tour? I toured Jackson Triggs in Niagara about 2 weeks ago. We saw how the grapes grew, had to be planted a certain distance apart, had to be the right root from Europe shipped over to work with the soil, and then the grape vine grafted into it, and then the vine carefully trimmed so the maxium sun would hit those grapes, and then at the right time picked and placed in the hopper, move their way to the appropriate tank where the right temperature, fermentation and friction would be applied, then moved down to the basement 16ft under to get the right temperature there, and in barrels, some of which were oak from the US and some of another kind from France, to sit and absorb just the right flavours and notes from the wood. And only once that entire process was accomplished was the wine ready to be enjoyed. This is Yeshua’s point - to make good wine you don’t go from grape seed to barrel right away - you follow the steps.

New Disciples

With now understanding that the ‘old’ is actually the ideal state, how then should we understand Yeshua’s purpose for giving this parable? Are the parables about the garment and wine linked to the original topic regarding Yeshua’s disciples neglect to fast? And if so, what is the deeper picture?

Here’s a Jewish wisdom parable from a book called Sirach written about 200BC. This is a book found in a section of the Septuagint what Protestants refer to as the Apocrypha. This I think assists us in understanding the answer:

Sirach 9:10 NRSV

Do not abandon old friends, for new ones cannot equal them. A new friend is like new wine; when it has aged, you can drink it with pleasure.

This is remarkably similar to our passage in question. Old friendships are the best. They are strong and dependable. With some old friends you can be apart for a long time and pick right back up where you left off. But the connection here to our passage is twofold.

wine is used as a metaphor for people

new relationships are ideal when aged

We started by speaking about Yeshua’s school and I suggest to you that this is the overarching picture Yeshua is bringing forward in his parables here. New disciples need a process applied to them so that the relationships can be lasting.

You see, Yeshua’s emphasis in these parables is one of duration and quality. If you want to end up with a disciple that is tried, proven excellent, able to withstand the times of scarcity, then there is a process that must take place to ensure longevity and maximum pleasure.

There is wisdom that needs to be applied to making disciples. How simple the message and how complicated we make it!

So with a new disciple what is the priroity? The priority is to fellowship and enjoy the master’s presence. To soak up the teaching, to soak up the love and concern and wisdom. Why? Becuase once that has been truly tasted and enjoyed, the aftertaste will never disappear. That is the foundation needed to being the long ageing process with its ups and downs and its stretching and its weathering.

You should each be thinking of your own lives and areas of influence. Are you applying the wisdom of priority and process or are you seeking a shortcut where ruin will be your end result? Are you approaching discipleship with the compassion and patience needed because you can see what’s need to reach the goal of a durable disciple? For you homeschooling mothers, are you discipling your students in such a way that their end goal will be critical thinkers with characters as solid as a rock? Overseers and leaders official and leaders defacto, how are you shepherding the flock - expecting new entrants to the faith to be looking and acting like you on day 1 or are you applying grace in order to see a stronger brother or sister in the future?

We can go on with this principle for eternity becuase the wisdom is evident in so many aspects of our lives. The best things simply take time, prioritization, and process.

So I would encourage each of you, in whatever capacity God has you placed in at the moment, to exercise Yeshua’s halachah and apply this wisdom to your walk and practice as well.